1. THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the
daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna
to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her
third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove
there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds
of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the
daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in
the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another
inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for
home!" I assured her.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll
drive. I'm used to this."
"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."
"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this
experience."
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small
church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand - lettered sign with an arrow that
read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I
followed. Carolyn led the way down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up
and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great
vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The
flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep
orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each
different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like
its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on
the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small
and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.
On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking",
was the headline.
The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.
The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one
brain."
The third answer was, "Began in 1958."
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I
had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to
bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a
time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she
lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence,
beauty, and inspiration.

2. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.
That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one
baby-step at time-and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of
time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we
too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if
I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at
it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to
achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start
tomorrow," she said.
She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make
learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I
put this to use today?"
Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting..... Until your car or home is paid off Until
you get a new car or home Until your kids leave the house Until you go back to school
Until you finish school Until you clean the house Until you organize the garage Until
you clean off your desk Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs. Until you get
married Until you get a divorce Until you have kids Until the kids go to school Until
you retire Until summer Until spring Until winter Until fall Until you die...
The place to be happy is HERE and the time to be happy is NOW. Happiness is a
journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money. Love like you've never
been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.